Sons of Anarchy ended this week, and it was exactly what I expected it to be. I have read some criticism about it, because people were upset that it was “predictable”. Now, for a series that has been as intense and with as many twists as Sons has been, I think a nice, clean ending was the way to go.

Every loose end was tied up, and everybody ended up the way I thought they would. If they had done something crazy and unexpected, people would have hated it even more. People just get so caught up on criticizing series finales instead of just enjoying them.

My prediction was this: I thought Jax would tell the DA everything, give them the address where Gemma was, take care of his stuff, and go out on his bike like JT before the cops could take him in. I thought that Chibs would be president and Tig would be VP. I was a little unsure of Nero’s fate, only because I read an interview with Jimmy Smits where he made it seem like he wasn’t going to get away.

My mom had been telling me from the start of this season however, that she thought he and Wendy were going to get away with the boys (before there was any hint of that happening…good guess, Mom). Together, our prediction was exactly what happened. I cried for a good ten minutes after the end, but I really felt so happy. The kids and the club are now free from violence (hopefully), and Jax is free from his fate of life in prison for all of the murders that it took to make that happen.

I feel like all the people who are hating on the finale really didn’t understand the show. I’ve read the typical “selfish suicide” comments; how is this selfish? It is the complete opposite. He is a martyr. He sacrificed himself to save his club and his family. Anybody who truly loved and understood this show could see that.

What did you think? Did you hate the predictability of the series finale? Or did you love that it was exactly what you expected?

I guess there will always be haters. Whatever people may say, I thought it was perfect. Sons is one of my all time favorite shows, and although I’m sad it’s over, I sure as hell enjoyed the final ride.

Winter is my least favorite season. It’s cold and snowy (depending on where you live) and I just want to sit inside 24/7 cuddled up with my cat. Luckily, there are a lot of shows premiering in the next few months to give me something to do.

Sunday, January 4th – Downton Abbey (PBS)

The cast of Downton Abbey recently visited the Today show to talk about the upcoming season. They answered a few questions, and Hugh Bonneville said to bring a hanky for a few episodes, but be prepared to laugh as well. Downton Abbey is one of my absolute favorite shows, and I can’t wait for its return!

Sunday, January 11th – Girls (HBO)

Girls returns with Hannah Horvath moving to Iowa. Entertainment Weekly talks about the latest promo released for the comedy series. The plan is, there is no plan. Girls always cracks me up, so I’m looking forward to the new season.

Sunday, January 11th – Togetherness (HBO)

Togetherness is a brand new comedy by the Duplass brothers, and their first TV series. Variety talks about the upcoming series, saying that there will be some hilariously awkward moments. The show will follow a dysfunctional Los Angeles couple with kids, whose sister and friend move into their already-cramped house.

Wednesday, January 28th – The Americans (FX)

The Americans is another one of my all time favorite shows. A new promo premiered tonight during the Sons of Anarchy series finale (which I’m still crying about), and Yahoo TV talks about what we’ve learned in the latest trailer.

Thursday, February 5th – The Blacklist (NBC)

The Blacklist is currently on a mid-season break, but Fashion & Style has five questions they want answered when it returns in February. The first two are definitely questions that have been lingering in my mind: is Red Liz’s father? And what is up with Red and Tom? Hopefully, these questions get answered in the second half of the second season.

Sunday, February 8th – The Walking Dead (AMC)

The Walking Dead is another show that is currently on mid-season break. i09 posted an article discussing the possibility of the next “bad guys” in the next half of season 5. Apparently, some people think that the next villains will be the “whisperers”, who are a group of lunatics who wear walker skin on their faces and whisper to each other. The other possibility is Negan. Now, we all know the show doesn’t follow the comics, so we’ll have to wait and see where this goes.

Sunday, February 8th – Better Call Saul (AMC)

Everyone is talking about Better Call Saul. I am so excited about this new series, but a little nervous too. Sequels/prequels make me nervous, because so often they aren’t as good as the predecessor. However, I think that this show will actually do well; they know how much they have to live up to, so I think they will deliver. The best thing you can do is check out Saul Goodman’s website. It’s amazing.

I mentioned once before that my mom is the one who got me so into watching TV. We haven’t always been big TV watchers. TV has changed a lot in the last 15 years, gaining more popularity as time passed. Growing up, my dad watched more TV, but he has always been into Discovery/History channel shows. My mom has always been a reader, reading usually a book a week. And me, I was a total tomboy.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a neighborhood of kids my age, mostly boys, and in a time where playing outside from sunup to sundown normal. I spent my days playing kickball learning how to skateboard with the boys. My dad got me into playing video games at an early age; we had a Super Nintendo and would often play Super Mario and other games. I never really cared for anything on TV besides the occasional cartoon, but I’ve always loved to tell stories; writing became an interest at a young age. I used to make up stories and poems, and I loved to perform for my parents.

In 2004, when Lost first premiered, I had zero interest in watching it. My mom told me there was a new show starting about a plane crash on an island that looked really good and she wanted me to watch it with her. I declined, and she threatened to ground me if I didn’t watch it with her (she was half-joking…she wasn’t that mean). So I ended up watching it, and I got super into it. Even after that though, I still didn’t watch much else. I tried to get into a few others at the time, Fringe and Heroes, but I had a hard time committing to watching them weekly and fell behind. Lost was the only thing that kept my interest.

Fast forward to the last few years…my mom has watched basically every popular show on air from the start: Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Dexter, etc. I still didn’t watch anything, because I spent all of my time with my friends. After all of my closest friends joined the military and moved away, I had a lot more free time (not to say they were my only friends, but I spent every day with them prior to them leaving). Netflix had become increasingly popular with streaming TV shows, so I started to catch up on all of these shows that my mom and the whole internet was going crazy over.

Now, as you all know, I watch a lot of TV. Some people might see this as being lazy or me having too much free time, but that isn’t true. I’m not just sitting around watching TV all day. I go to school full-time and work almost 30 hours a week. I do other things besides watch TV: I love to go hiking and spend time outdoors, I go to the movies with my friends, and I play video games. I spend a lot of time on the internet, and I even read from time to time. TV isn’t my only interest, but it is a big part of me. The writing that goes into today’s shows is incredible; the stories being told are enthralling and the characters are so real, you actually care about them. It’s fun to get lost in another world. For some people, reading is their way of doing that. For others, it’s movies. For me, it’s TV.

From the beginning of “The Walking Dead” there has been observations and complaints about the show containing an outrageous amount of sexism. As a writer of my own blog that includes my views on feminism and gender roles, I decided to look further into these accusations.

I read a lot of reviews of the first couple seasons from 2012 that speak strongly about the pathetic portrayal of women in the show including the stereotypical roles of the female characters like house cleaning and chores and the fact that none of them are allowed to fight physically for themselves with the exception of Andrea.

But even Andrea, the one character breaking the barrier of female gender roles gets reprimanded by Lori for not helping out enough around the house. Then Andrea gets her gun taken away while Carl, an 11-year-old boy can carry his own gun around. What’s up with that? There are so many more examples of the poor portrayal or women in this show and the hyper masculinity of the men, I could keep writing for pages. Like the anti-abortion message when Lori gets pregnant, or how none of the women have any sort of say in any leadership position.

But instead let’s move on. Not being an avid watcher of the show myself, I couldn’t comment on the most recent seasons since I stopped watching after season 2. So I decided to watch last night’s new episode.

I didn’t think the female characters were portrayed as poorly in this particular episode. Maybe the producers got the hint. Like when Maggie has Abraham at her mercy or when Rosita is the expert over Glenn, the one male in their group in the woods (although we have to admit that Glenn has never been portrayed as super masculine anyway).

But there are other scenes that made me cock my head a bit. Like the very last scene when Sasha is doing the male cop/prisoner a favor. Why would she be so stupid as to turn her back on him? She knows better than that. Or when the female cop is verbally put down by the male cop once they were captured the second time. Her plan just wasn’t good enough, the man needed to derive a better one. Also the scene in the hospital between Dawn, Beth, and the male cop, where the woman cannot override the man once he’s made his decision, even though she is supposed to be the “leader”.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that this show is so popular and loved by so many fans, but needs to work on its portrayal of female characters. It has so much potential to show strong women in leadership positions or even just women whose opinions matter and can make their own decisions. That would get a positive message out to female viewers instead of continuing to “put them in their place”, a message we females have thrown in our faces by society every day. I don’t want to watch it on TV too.

I wish there were more hours in a day so that I could watch everything I want to watch. Unfortunately, time is limited and I’m starting to fall behind on some shows.

A lot of fall shows are either coming close to their winter hiatus or ending for the year (or ending for good, like Sons of Anarchy), so let’s talk about where things are going with my favorite shows and what’s coming up in the next few months.

I knew that something was going to happen in this weeks episode to land Carol in the care of the people at the Grady Memorial, but not knowing when made it agonizing to watch. I jumped a foot when her and Daryl were sitting in the car and a walker slammed on her window!

I probably should have anticipated that it wouldn’t happen until the end of the episode, but Carol is just such an important character at this point that it made me anxious to know her life might be in danger. Carol has changed a lot since season 1, so let’s take a look back at how Carol has evolved over the years.